1. Assess your level: determine your intensity zones

Before starting a training program for a cyclosportive, it’s essential to define your intensity zones to structure your sessions and make effective progress.

FCmax, FTP and RPE: three methods for structuring effort

Three main methods are used to determine these zones:

• Maximum heart rate (FCmax ): calculated using a heart rate monitor. It’s an affordable and economical solution.
• FTP (Functional Threshold Power): measured using a power sensor, this method is more expensive but offers greater precision and reliability.
• Sensations : based on the RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) scale, graduated from 1 to 10 (1 corresponding to very easy effort and 10 to maximum effort). This approach requires no equipment and relies solely on feeling.

Test protocols: how to measure FCmax and FTP?

Test to determine your FCmax

The maximum heart rate test is performed during a progressive and very intense effort. After a thorough warm-up lasting 15 to 20 minutes, including a few accelerations, you should perform a steady climb or continuous effort in which the intensity gradually increases until exhaustion is reached .

The last two to three minutes should be performed at maximum intensity, without reserve. The highest value recorded by the heart rate monitor during this effort corresponds to FCmax. This test is demanding and should be performed when you’re well rested.

Test to determine your FTP

FTP is generally measured using a 20-minute test with a power meter. After a warm-up of around 20 minutes, including a few minutes of near-threshold work, you should perform a continuous 20-minute effort at the highest intensity you are capable of maintaining in a stable manner.

The average power developed over these 20 minutes is then multiplied by 0.95 to estimate the FTP. This value corresponds to the maximum power that can be sustained over an hour or so. As with the FCmax test, this is a demanding test that should be performed at rest.

Summary table of bike training areas

2. Fundamentals of effective cycling training

To make lasting progress, training must be based on a few key principles. These rules help structure the workload, optimize physiological adaptations and limit the risk of overwork or injury.

Consistency: the foundation of your progress

Physiological adaptations are built up over time. Irregularly spaced sessions or frequent interruptions slow down progress. Soseveral short, structured outings spread over the week, with clearly defined objectives, are far more effective than a single long, improvised outing at the weekend.

It’s the coherent sequence of sessions, even of moderate duration, that encourages continuous progress, better assimilation of the training load and optimal adaptation of the body over the long term.

Progressiveness: increasing the load without risk of injury

The training load must be increased gradually. Volume, intensity and frequency cannot be developed simultaneously and abruptly.

Too rapid an increase leads to excessive fatigue and stagnation, whereas a gradual increase allows the body to adapt efficiently. Weekly training volume should not be increased by more than 10%.

Recovery: the key to physiological adaptation

Performance enhancement does not occur during exercise, but during recovery phases. Rest, light sessions and sleep are therefore integral components of training. Insufficient recovery limits adaptation and increases the risk of injury or overtraining.

To optimize these effects, a training block, i.e. a structured period of several weeks aimed at developing a specific quality through targeted sessions, is generally followed by a recovery week, and it is recommended to maintain one or two days of complete rest each week. A training block is a structured period of several weeks during which a quality is developed through targeted sessions.

Individualization: adapting effort to your own physiology

Every sportswoman reacts differently to training load. Age, level, sporting history, recovery capacity and personal constraints must all be taken into account. An effective plan is always personalized.

For women who feel the need, it’s possible to adjust training to the different phases of the menstrual cycle: focus on endurance in the luteal phase and more intense sessions in the follicular phase. You should also keep an eye on your iron intake, as the risk of deficiency is higher in sportswomen, particularly those with heavy periods, which can lead to fatigue and reduced performance.

3. How do you plan for D-Day?

Consistent planning is key to success. It allows you to focus your sessions, manage your progress and arrive on D-day in the best possible conditions.

Define objectives and analyze test characteristics

The first step is to clearly identify your main objective. The date of the test is a central point of reference around which preparation is organized.

The next step is toanalyze the characteristics of the event: distance, altitude difference, type of course and expected effort profile. It may be worth taking part in a preparatory race to gain experience in real conditions and identify areas for improvement.

Adapt your schedule to your personal and professional constraints

Above all, an effective training plan must fit in harmoniously with personal and professional life. The time actually available for training, vacation periods and family or professional constraints must be taken into account right from the planning stage, in order to remain realistic and sustainable.

Adapting training volume and load to these constraints helps limit stress and maintain motivation over the long term.

Building your plan: from groundwork to specific work

The construction of an effective training plan is based on a logical progression: from the general to the specific. Physiological basics must be developed first, before progressively introducing sessions close to the requirements of the targeted event.

For a mountain cyclosportive, training can start with short, intense splits, then progress to long, moderate-intensity climbs to gradually prepare the body for the sustained efforts of the passes.

Conversely, for a fairly flat event where restarts and changes of pace are frequent, training can start with long efforts before incorporating high-intensity work to reproduce these intensity variations.

In the next section, we’ll look in detail at how to structure your training and the different phases to be implemented.

4. Periodization: structuring your training in blocks

Periodization consists of structuring training in successive blocks, each dedicated to the targeted development of a physical quality.

The transition period or return to training

The transition period is a recovery phase designed to prepare the body before the base period. It’s particularly useful for athletes starting structured training, lacking basic training or returning from a break. Its duration varies from 2 to 8 weeks , depending on your experience and level of fatigue.

In practice, after a long break, it is recommended to resume with around 50% of the usual volume, and around 80% after a short pause or a simple change of discipline.

This phase focuses on general conditioning, with progressive volume recovery, aerobic work in easy zones and general strength training with one or two muscle-strengthening sessions per week.

The aerobic base: building your endurance base

Developing the aerobic base is the foundation of training. It serves to develop aerobic capacity and improve running economy, mainly through the accumulation of volume (time, distance, altitude difference) at low intensity, in zones 1 and 2. It helps to build a solid physical condition that can progressively withstand higher volumes and intensities.

During this period, you can also work on strength on the bike with low-cadence exercises. It’s also advisable to keep up one or two weekly strength training sessions to maintain muscle strength, especially in older women, as strength naturally tends to diminish with age.

Intensity training: the 80/20 rule for performance

Once the endurance base has been built up, it’s time to move on to intensities. A training block is usually organized over four weeks, with one main quality to work on.

During this cycle, the load is gradually increased to stimulate adaptation, followed by a week of recovery marked by a drop in volume. To trigger adaptation, training must induce a stress slightly higher than your usual level. This overload can take the form of an increase in volume, intensity or number of repetitions, or a reduction in recovery time between repetitions.

In practice, two intensity sessions a week are sufficient to bring about positive adaptations without compromising recovery. For beginners, it’s advisable to start with a single weekly split session, then add a second when conditions allow.

Even for an experienced athlete, three weekly intensity sessions are a maximum, beyond which the risk of excessive fatigue and stagnation increases.

A recognized balance for effective and lasting development of physical capacities is most often based on a distribution of training close to 80% fundamental endurance (zones 1 and 2) and 20% high-intensity work (zones 3 to 5).

Pre-competition and fine-tuning: arriving fresh at the starting line

The pre-competitive period consists of integrating more specific sessions into the planning. It reproduces the real demands of the targeted event and mobilizes all the fundamental qualities already developed. Lasting a few weeks, it alternates between highly demanding sessions and recovery outings to optimize progress.

Before a competition, it’s then essential to plan one or two weeks of fine-tuning so that you arrive at the start in the best possible condition, with an optimal level of freshness and energy. Conditioning involves gradually reducing training volume by around 30-50%, while retaining a few short, intense sessions to maintain muscular power and responsiveness.

Planning must also include sufficient rest and sleep, as well as special attention to nutrition and hydration so that the body recharges its reserves before race day.

5. Which sessions should you choose to develop your physical qualities?

There are a multitude of ways to develop your physical qualities, but the sessions presented here are the main training basics. They can sometimes be combined in the same session to work on variations in pace and adaptability to effort, as is the case with over/under sessions.

Aerobic qualities (Z1-Z2)

• Objective: Build the aerobic base, accustom the body to prolonged effort.
• Sample session: Long outing lasting several hours at low intensity.

Aerobic endurance ( Z3)

• Objective: Develop the maximum sustainable uphill pace and the length of time it can be maintained.
• Example of a typical session: Intervals consisting of 8 to 20-minute efforts in zone 3, separated by 5 minutes of active recovery, for a total work volume of between 40 and 60 minutes.

Over/Under (Z3-Z4)

• Objective: Improve tolerance to lactate accumulation and the ability to maintain a high intensity despite variations in pace, such as when changing pace in a race.
• Typical session example: Blocks of 8 to 15 minutes alternating phases above the threshold (Z4) and phases just below (Z3), for example 1 to 2 minutes in Z4 followed by 2 to 4 minutes in Z3, without complete recovery between intensities.

Aerobic power (Z4)

• Objective: Improve ability to sustain intense effort, resistance to fatigue.
• Typical session example: Intervals lasting from 30 seconds to 10 minutes, with an effort/recovery ratio of 1:1, for a total work volume of between 15 and 30 minutes.

Anaerobic capacity (Z5)

• Objective: To develop leg strength and power.
• Example of a typical session: Near-maximal efforts of 10 to 30 seconds per repetition, interspersed with a complete recovery of at least 2 to 3 minutes, or an incomplete recovery such as 30″/30″.

Conclusion

Now you have all the keys you need to start training in a structured way for your cyclosportive. By following the different training phases and progressing step by step, you’ll have every chance of arriving at the start ready, confident and in good shape. The most important thing is to stay regular, listen to yourself and, above all, have fun on the bike!